Getting Into Step: A Movement Podcast

Organizers draw inspiration from biblical scripture in building a movement led by the poor. Anu talks with Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, editor of the book We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign, a collection of essays from leaders across the country. Reverend Theoharis is Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice.

How the official US poverty line actually creates more poverty. Jake Heller talks with policy experts Shailly Gupta Barnes and Shawn Fremstad. Shailly Gupta Barnes is Policy Director of the Kairos Center and the Poor People’s Campaign. Shawn Fremstad is Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.   Quote 1: (35:30-35:57) It is only when those who are most impacted by the injustices of our current systems and structures, it's when they are formed and forged into a political force that real change, fundamental change, actually takes place. It's to see that our salvation as a nation, our improving, however we wanted to define that will come from the poor and dispossessed of today. - Shailly Gupta Barnes, Kairos CenterQuote 2:(28:21-28:37) I think we forget sometimes that poverty can be a snapshot, but it's something that's more and more commonly experienced across the course of someone's life in this country. And that in and of itself is, it’s a moral and it's a political failure that we have to account for.  Shailly Gupta BarnesQuote 3:38:03-38:15 I think that's our task at hand is to build a power of, of everyday people, of the 140 million to take action together, um, and, and we'll see what change is possible from there.  ★ Support this podcast ★

Victories and challenges of organizing today. Anu talks with organizers Barb Rivera of Rochester Citywide Tenants Union who fought off her own eviction and Keith Bullard of North Carolina Raise Up fighting for a $15 minimum wage. Recorded in August 2021.Quote 1:7:33- 8:10 I've been organizing for four years and I love everything about it. I'm feeling like my kid’s superhero. My kids love it. I bring them with me to my job. I bring them to the office. I bring them to rallies. I bring them to marches (CUT 7:50-8:00 I’m creating little activists because I want them to make changes in their world when its their time. I don’t want them to work too hard) I want them to know they have something to be proud of, a legacy to carry on, a mom to be proud of, you know? - Barb Rivera, Rochester Citywide Tenants UnionQuote 2: 18:11 - 18:22 and so you have a bunch of unorganized workers that are flexing their power and rejecting the old normal, and demanding a change in this society. - Keith Bullard, NC Raise UpQuote 3: This is the organizing conversation that needs to continue to happen. - Keith Bullard, NC Raise UpQuote 4:  26:33 In 2012, fast food workers had this ridiculous demand of $15 an hour in New York. And so they decided to go on strike, like that was mind blowing, but you have people in Seattle, Washington that say, yo, do you see those McDonald's workers over there going on strike saying they deserve $15 an hour? I'll go through the same thing. And I may not have ever met them personally. I know them because I am them. (end at 27:00 or can continue with the following text)and they spoke up in Seattle. You know, they spoke up all across the country. And that's when you have a, uh, a common sense idea of, of some elected officials to say, Hey, it should be $15 an hour. (at 27:13) ★ Support this podcast ★

From the Carolinas to California, from the Bronx to the border, from the Appalachian hollers to Apache sacred lands, Getting Into Step: A Movement Podcast for the Long Haul will explore what it means to build a social movement that addresses the interlocking injustices of our time. We will hear stories highlighting the plight, fight, and insight of the poor, pull pages from our movement songbook to learn how certain songs came to be and what they mean to us today, and take deep dives into the pressing questions of our movement.Click here for the full episode transcript.This episode was produced by Anu Yadav, Leanne Tory-Murphy, Nic Laccetti, Jake Heller, Charon Hribar and Channie Waites. It was edited by Chaitanya Sangco, and the song "Getting into Step" is by Reverend Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, with lyrics by Avery Book and Charon Hribar, and produced by Pauline Pisano and Jason Crawford. "Getting Into Step" image by Aaron Hughes, Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, Poor People’s Campaign Portfolio, logo by Katrina Zezza. Special thanks to Eleanor Kagan, John Wessel-McCoy, and Adam Barnes.  ★ Support this podcast ★